Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

A school in Arizona was sued by a high school football player who injured his ankle during practice. The lawsuit blames the poor conditions of the practice field. The merits of this particular case is unknown but these kind of lawsuit make a lot of accident and malpractice lawyers a little squeamish because the "blame the school" approach turns off a lot of jurors to personal injury claims generally.

The interesting legal issue in this one is that the Plaintiff contains he lost a college scholarship. Tough argument because it is so speculative. In a famous case involving where a high school (and later college) wrestling great in Iowa (where else?), the court found that there was no property interest in a college scholarship until it was awarded Brands v. Sheldon Community School, 671 F.Supp. 627, 630-631 (N.D. Iowa 1987).

State Senator Jack Harper from wants to ask voters to let lawmakers limit how much Arizona juries can award to accident and malpractice victims. "This is probably the only year we will have a legislative makeup that will allow the measure to go to the ballot," said Harper.

Okay. But if this is the only year you can get it through, doesn't that underscore it is a really bad idea? A great selling point for politics. Less so for doing the right thing.

Arizona votes defeated a similar ballot issue in 1986.

Jury Verdict Research found that that the median money damage award in vehicle accident cases in Arizona is $16,929. Plaintiffs win money damages in 53 percent of cases that go to trial.

JVR also breaks down the type of accident: rear-end accidents accounted for 27 percent of the total number of plaintiff verdicts; intersection accidents accounted for 13 percent; turning collisions accounted for 12 percent; truck accidents accounted for 11 percent; chain reaction collisions accounted for 9 percent. All other liabilities made up 8 percent or less of the total.

I'm not sure why truck accidents were given their own category in the type of accidents. But this Arizona verdict data is interesting and I think reflects the relative proportions of the different types of vehicle accidents nationally.

A nursing home lawsuit in Phoenix on behalf of a the family of a man who died in a Phoenix assisted living facility was awareded $11 million in damages. According to the nursing home lawsuit, Liberty Manor Residency failed to properly monitor the man and falsified medical records which, not surprisingly, inflamed the jury.

You can find a story on the case here.

My two volume treatise Insurance Settlements is now available from James Publishing. The book discusses how to position a lawyer's car accident, truck accident, medical malpractice or product liability case to the best possible settlement at every step along the way (until the state's high court affirms the judgment).

Click on the James Publishing link. If you have any comments on the book, please email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com under the subject "Insurance Settlements Comments."

Our lawyers are reviewing Byetta claims after the FDA announced this week that the diabetes drug has been linked to severe pancreatic problems in dozens of patients. On Monday, the FDA warned patients taking Byetta to discontinue use if they develop symptoms of the disorder. Further the FDA said that doctor prescribing Byetta should consider other prescription options for patients with a history of pancreas problems.

Since Byetta was introduced into the United States in 2005, more than 700,000 patients have used the Byetta.

Our lawyers are now exploring potential Byetta lawsuits. If you would like to discuss your case with a Byetta lawyer, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consulation/case evaluation (or even to answer any question you may have). For more information on Byetta and the concerns with Byetta, click here.

Last week, Digitek manufacturer Actavis Totowa recalled over 65 different drugs made at their New Jersey manufacturing plant. The list of recalled drugs (in some form or another) includes such generic drugs as Bellamine, Buspirone, Carisoprodol, Oxycodone Meperidine, and Rifampin. This strengthens the conclusion that the New Jersey plant that made these drugs may be the cause of irregularities in Actavis medications.

In April 2008, Actavis recalled Digitek, a drug prescribed to treat heart failure and irregular heartbeat because it was discovered that Digitek tablets appeared to have double the thickness – and likely double the active ingredient – listed on the label. When Digitek is given in abnormally high doses it can lead to digitalis toxicity which, paradoxically, worsens the problems Digitek is intended to treat, causing nausea or lower blood pressure and other side effects from the Digitek overdose that can lead to the increased risk of stroke or a heart attack.

If you would like to speak to a Digitek recall lawyer about a potential Digitek lawsuit, call 1-800-553-8000. For more information on the Digitek overdose recall or a free consultation on your potential Digitek case, click here.

Zimmer's Durom Cup hip implants are likely to be the subject of a good number of lawsuits from patients with the Zimmer implants. But they will not be the only ones. Apparently, Zimmer’s own shareholders may agree that Zimmer left its hip implant on the market way too long. Last week, shareholders of Zimmer stock filed a class action in Indiana. Interestingly, the lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who purchased stock between January 28, 2008 and July 21, 2008. This tells our Zimmer hip implant recall lawyers that these shareholders believe that Zimmer knew or should have known and issued a recall on or before January 28, 2008.

If your Zimmer Durom hip resurfacing cup was defective, call our Zimmer hip implant lawyers at 1-800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation.

More information on the Zimmer Hip Implant Recall
History of the Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Implant Recall
More information on the Zimmer hip implant recall lawsuits

Lawyers representing Digitek overdose victims have filed nine lawsuits in New Jersey against Actavis Totowa LLL and its parent company Actavis Group, alleging a manufacturing defect in Digitek, namely that some Digitek tablets have contained twice the active ingredient of the drug. Digitek recall lawsuits have also been filed in West Virginia and California.

Our Digitek recall lawyers are reviewing these Digitek overdose cases in all 50 states expecting that a consolidated class action lawsuit will be appropriate (as opposed to this scatting of individual cases). If you want to discuss your case with one of our Digitek lawyers call us at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation or click here for a free Internet consultation.

The Arizona Court of Appeals found unconstitutional yesterday an Arizona law placing limitations on whether an expert can testify at trial in medical malpractice lawsuits.

The Plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyer, James J. Syme, Jr., found himself in a pickle because the trial judge, Maricopa County Judge Michael C. Jones granted the defendant’s motion in lime to strike Plaintiff’s only medical expert. Judge Jones very reasonably allowed Plaintiff time to find another expert but the Plaintiff’s lawyer could not locate another expert. (Note: this is usually not the sign of a great medical malpractice case.)

The Arizona Court of Appeals found that the statute Judge Jones relied upon in excluding the expert was unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers provision of the Arizona Constitution. Specifically, the court said that the Arizona Constitution confers on the Arizona Supreme Court the “power to make rules relative to all procedural matters in any court” and the Arizona Supreme Court has previously held that its rule making power is “exclusive and may not be infringed by the legislature.”

I’m thrilled that the Plaintiff gets a shot to have her medical malpractice lawsuit heard by a jury and it sounds like the court make the right call based on the existing case law. I also think the limitations placed by the statute – section 12-2604(A) are completely unreasonable. But does it make me a little uneasy that the legislature that is elected by the people cannot interfere in such matters? Yeah.

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